I mentioned in the first post I run it at 800F when I cast Zinc bullets and I dedicated 4-20 to it knowing that Zinc might eat through it. I am not afraid to use it. My Lee magnum melter I insulated with Kaowool, it was reaching over 900F on lowest setting (2). Added larger pot too, it would hold about 28lb of lead, melted lead, melted zinc, annealed 22LR jackets, eventually the pot sprung a leak, so I replaced it with one from Lee, just paid the shipping and rebuild it. I also replaced the heating element, the old one was scaled and chipping. Believe me, I used and abused my "tools" and what I learned is no need to run it super hot when its not required.